Chapter Sixty-One: Competition

At this moment, Lin Miaomiao felt as if she were part of the management, overseeing four large factories, and her annual income was remarkably high. After doing the math, she realized that her yearly earnings, if converted to modern terms, would make her a millionaire by the month. Never had she imagined that one day she would achieve such success.

Li Yanhe had recently found himself with more free time. With winter gradually fading, the barbarians had begun to raise cattle and sheep in large numbers. Thus, they no longer launched full-scale invasions, and even if they did attack, it was only a small contingent. As a result, Li Yanhe's workload lessened. The tunnel warfare tactics Lin Miaomiao had once shared with him had now been officially implemented in all fifteen border cities. Li Yanhe could finally steal a rare moment of leisure.

After Lin Langluan and Lin Langze finished their schooling each day, they still had to attend extracurricular classes. This time, instead of art lessons, they were enrolled in horseback riding and archery courses. After each class, Li Yanhe would take them to the military camp to personally instruct them in riding and archery.

Both children, having practiced martial arts for a long time, possessed a stable foundation, so learning archery was not as strenuous for them. When they first started riding, Li Yanhe carefully selected two ponies for them. He was a strict teacher, and while the initial enthusiasm for riding was high, the soreness on the inner thighs soon followed.

If Lin Miaomiao knew the two children thought riding and archery were fun, she would have shaken her head and said, “Children, every extracurricular class in this world is tedious.”

Upon returning, Lin Langluan and Lin Langze clung to Lin Miaomiao and pleaded, “We want to learn painting, not riding and archery.”

Seeing their eagerness for extracurricular classes, Lin Miaomiao was quite pleased and nodded in agreement, “Very well, when your weekend comes, your sister will give you painting lessons.”

However, both children’s faces instantly fell. Every day, Lin Miaomiao presented them with arithmetic problems they were required to solve.

Lin Miaomiao shook her head with a smile and returned to her books. Li Yanhe, noticing the dense rows of numbers in her ledger, grew curious. He had also been present during the children's mental arithmetic lessons. A clever man himself, Li Yanhe quickly memorized the Arabic numerals Lin Miaomiao wrote on her homemade blackboard. He could even deduce the rest when Lin Miaomiao listed examples, but the children's progress lagged, making Li Yanhe wonder about the meaning of the asterisk in her ledger.

Catching his look of curiosity, Lin Miaomiao nearly laughed and explained, “This signifies multiplication. It's for convenience in calculations.” Pointing at the numbers, she explained, “This is the unit price, that is the quantity. If you want to find the final amount for this order, what do you do?”

Li Yanhe frowned at the large numbers, but Lin Miaomiao smiled and guided him, “See, if you multiply the unit price by the quantity, wouldn’t that give you the answer?” She then wrote out the equation on a scrap of paper, circling the multiplication sign for emphasis. “See, this is a symbol.”

Being quick-witted, Li Yanhe immediately understood and asked how to perform the calculation. Lin Miaomiao replied, “I have a mnemonic for multiplication. Memorize it, and you’ll be able to do it.”

She wrote down the multiplication table and demonstrated its use. Having learned mental arithmetic from a young age, Lin Miaomiao could generate answers instantly. Li Yanhe was mystified by her speed until she produced her abacus, the same one she used to teach Lin Langluan and Lin Langze abacus mental arithmetic.

She began instructing Li Yanhe in using the abacus. He was no stranger to the device and, with her explanations, quickly grasped its use. Coupled with her mnemonic, he was soon able to answer as quickly as she did. He quietly tucked the mnemonic away, prompting Lin Miaomiao to ask, “Aren’t you good at memorization? Why keep the mnemonic?”

With a cool gaze, Li Yanhe replied, “So I can review it more often—repetition strengthens memory, and I won’t forget it in the future.”

Lin Miaomiao nodded in agreement. Thus, every evening when she taught the children abacus mental arithmetic, Li Yanhe would sit nearby and listen in. Lin Langluan and Lin Langze, usually prone to jokes and mischief during her lessons, immediately felt the pressure with Li Yanhe behind them, and their antics ceased.

The academy they attended was a small one, offering only introductory lessons. Lin Miaomiao knew that most wealthy families employed private tutors, which made her consider whether to continue sending the mischievous boys to the academy. Li Yanhe told her, “In the future, let them study with me. I’ll teach them.”

Relieved by his offer, Lin Miaomiao agreed, and after the boys graduated from the academy, they joined Li Yanhe’s private class. Each morning after martial practice, they accompanied him to the military camp, where he worked while the boys studied. He used the most traditional methods of instruction, and the boys, with their solid foundations, learned quickly, often mastering a lesson after just one explanation.

After their morning studies and lunch together, they would nap. In the afternoon, they practiced riding and archery, and in the evening, returned home to continue their abacus lessons.

Truth be told, they were already proficient, and Lin Miaomiao no longer insisted on nightly lessons, but she did require them to solve arithmetic problems daily. Afterward, she would assign simple word problems, such as the age-old “chicken and rabbit in the same cage” puzzles that had plagued her own childhood, along with other tricky applications. Only after finishing could they rest.

Lin Langluan and Lin Langze began to miss the academy days, but since the academy could no longer challenge them, this was now their path.

This month, Lin Miaomiao had been especially busy and had little time for the boys. After submitting all the pre-ordered deliveries ahead of the New Year, she could finally enjoy a period of relaxation.

One evening, as Lin Miaomiao practiced her calligraphy—using a copybook penned by Li Yanhe, whose beautiful handwriting she greatly admired—she fell into her usual routine of tracing his characters. After she finished a section, Li Yanhe smiled and asked, “Why work yourself so hard?”

With a sigh, Lin Miaomiao replied, “Sometimes, there’s simply no other choice.”

Afterward, Li Yanhe fell silent. Suddenly, Lin Miaomiao asked, “Has Da’an Kou changed at all this past year?”

He smiled and answered, “Of course. Thanks to you, the people here have started renovating their homes. The families of the border soldiers, especially the industrious ones, have even moved out of the small building you constructed.”

Her lips curved into a lovely smile, and she felt that all her exhaustion was worthwhile. She and Li Yanhe leaned against each other, chatting and laughing. The next morning, as usual, Lin Miaomiao made her rounds at the factories.

That morning, as she sat in her office, sipping tea and reviewing the accounts, Lin Qi entered with a stormy expression. She looked up, puzzled, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

With a sour face, Lin Qi replied, “Miss, some people are going too far. They’ve copied our factory design and have set up a workshop in a nearby city.”

Lin Miaomiao nodded and said, “Competition is inevitable. Let them open their factory.”

Then she instructed, “Keep a close eye on our workers, and watch the other factory as well. We must not harm others, but we must always be vigilant. If they have the means to invest and build a factory, they’re not ordinary people. We don’t need to play dirty, but we must guard against being wronged ourselves.”

With that, Lin Qi left. Lin Miaomiao smiled without another word. The rival factory was soon completed, and its opening was celebrated with such fanfare that she could hear the firecrackers from her office.

Through Lin Qi, she learned that the owner was a businessman from the south with a formidable reputation. Seeing how much Lin Miaomiao’s factory profited, he decided to set up his own operation in the area.

The foods Lin Miaomiao wholesaled were simple, and she had always known competition would arise. Yet, it was her constant innovation that kept her business thriving.